Despite being rivals, several players have gone on to play for both Chelsea and Manchester United.

Since the inception of the Premier League, the two teams to have won the most number of titles are Manchester United and Chelsea. Hence, it goes without saying that the rivalry between the teams has intensified over the years.

In such a scenario, one wouldn’t expect a player who represented one of Manchester United or Chelsea to play for the other as it would anger the fans but the truth is far from that. In fact, even Chelsea’s most successful manager, Jose Mourinho, is currently in charge of Manchester United.

While Chelsea would have been powerless to stop Mourinho from joining Manchester United had they wanted to, they could have certainly stopped their players from joining their rivals. Chelsea have directly sold two world class players to Manchester United in the last four years with Nemanja Matic being the most recent one.

Several other players have also gone on to play for both clubs but not all transfers were directly between the clubs. Here are the Top 5 players to represent both these English football giants in the Premier League era.

Honourable mentions: Mark Bosnich & Paul Parker

#5 Nemanja Matic

Nemanja Matic is the most recent entrant to the list of players who have represented both clubs. His career can be briefly summed up in the following manner:

Matic was signed by Chelsea twice, he won the league title with Chelsea twice, he was sold by Chelsea twice and finally, he was signed by Jose Mourinho twice. All of this happened in the space of just six years.

The Serbian is an excellent reader of the game and has a decent passing range. He might prove to be the most important signing Mourinho has made this summer. With the 29-year-old defensive midfielder shielding the backline, Mourinho can now give more freedom to the likes of Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera. This will alleviate the offensive problems the Red Devils faced last year.

As for Chelsea, it is surprising that they sold Matic to a rival and strengthened them when their own midfield options are thin. They did get a huge fee for Matic but they might have just handed over the league title to Manchester United in the process. Only time will tell.